Archives and Special Collections

Special Collections and Archives seeks to document the social, cultural, and economic history of the local region - the Pioneer Valley, Western Massachusetts, and New England. Some of the manuscript collections that would be of particular interest to anthropologists are the Linguistic Atlas of New England Papers, 1931-34, (interviewers' records and phonological analyses); Franco-Americans in Massachusetts Audiotapes, 1980s; and John Libera's Photographs, 1920s-30s (Polish-American culture in Southbridge, Massachusetts). Among the University records are the Alexander E. Cance Papers, 1908-59, reflecting his studies of Slavic farmers in the U.S.

Materials pertaining to Eastern Europe include the important papers of ethnologists Jozef and Tamara Obrebski, who studied rural villages in Polesia, Macedonia and Jamaica, 1923-74. They comprise, in part, field notes, peasant autobiographies, photographs, census materials, and Jozef Obrebski's writings. The Jamaican materials are in English, the others are not. The papers of former Anthropology faculty member Joel Halpern include field notes, photographs, census materials, and considerable additional materials pertaining to the former Yugoslavia, as well as his published writings based upon them. A collection of undated photographs of Polish art and architecture might also be of some interest.

Another set of materials of particular interest to researchers in anthropology is the Southeast Asia Collection, ca. 1950-86, from professors Joel Halpern and James Hafner.

Materials that can be used in association with the archeological dig at the homesite of W.E.B. Du Bois in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, can be found in the papers of W.E.B. Du Bois.

Users wishing to explore further for primary materials of particular interest to anthropological studies available in Special Collections and Archives should review listings in Major Manuscript Materials by Subject, particularly Cross-cultural and Ethnic Studies, Local History, and Rural Life and Agriculture. Links from the departmental web page under Internet Resources allow users to visit other manuscript repositories, to search broadly for primary materials elsewhere, and to discover online exhibits that might prove useful.